Reinforced car closure



' March 20, 1962 B. H. FORD REINFORCED CAR CLOSURE Filed Aug. 29,v 1956 Patented Mar. 20, 1962 iice 3,025,907 REINFORCED CAR CLOSURE Barton H. Ford, Omaha, Nebr., assigner, by mesne assignments, of one-half to International Paper Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York, and one-half to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 29, 1956, Ser. No. 606,927 4 Claims. (Cl. 160-368) This invention relates to a reinforced car closure, and is particularly useful in connection with -a car such as a railway car, truck, etc., having a door opening for loading and unloading and to a temporary closure for the door.

It is common to provide temporary door closures for the `door openings of boxcars, and the like, so that the car can be used for carrying grain or other granular material; and `after the car has been delivered, the door is usually cut to provide a discharge opening and the door later discarded. In structures of this kind, usually referred to as disposable grain doors, it is `common to employ a paper sheet or corrugated board or other sheet material for providing the barricade across the door opening and such doors may be reinforced with metal straps, plastic ribbons, etc.

While the grain door itself can be made of sturdy materia] so as to withstand the stresses or strains during shipment, it is found that the door frame, which is ordinarily formed of ya 2x4 or other wooden frame member, tends to chip away after usage and to become splintered and cracked and thus ineiective in supporting the door under the heavy loads imposed. Further, there is a limit to the support that can be sustained by a door frame even in intake, and there has long been a need for some means for providing additional support to the grain door whereby heavier loads can be carried thereby.

An object of the present invention is to provide simple and very effective means for the reinforcing of a grain door so that loads greater than those heretofore carried may be maintained Within the car. A further object is to provide means whereby the door frame is protected and much of the load exerted against the grain door transmitted to frame members in the car other than the door frame members. A still further object is to provide means which may be collapsed into small compass and which when in use can be spread to provide support for the grain door with the main burden of the door transmitted to selected portions of frame members spaced laterally of the `door frame. Other specific objects and advantages will `appear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is shown, in an illustrative embodiment, by the accompanying drawing, in which- FIGURE 1 is a broken side view in elevation of a car viewed from the outside and equipped with a closure and reinforcement therefore embodying my invention; FIG. 2, a View similar to FIG. l but showing the inner side of the car and the door; FIG. 3, a longitudinal sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 3 3 of FIG. 2; and FIG. 4, a perspective View of the pivotally-mounted reinforcing straps employed in the practice of my invention.

In the illustration given, A designates a railway car having -a door Vopening provided with vertical frame members 11 extending above the floor 12. Spaced laterally of the frame members are vertical beams or 2 x 4s 13, which are parallel with the frame posts 11. A grain door 14 which may be formed of flexible sheet material such as paper, laminated paper sheets, corrugated board, paper board, plastic sheets, etc., is extended -between the frame posts 11 and secured at its edges to the frame posts. Preferably, the sheet is extended at its lower portion to provide a sealing ap 15, which extends above and rests upon the floor 12. The door sheet may be reinforced with metal straps, as illustrated in my Patent No. 2,599,443, or may be formed in any other suitable manner. If desired, a ply-board 16 may be secured over the lower portion of the door 11 and to the bottom portions of the frame posts 11. Also, if desired, a headboard 17 may be secured near the upper edge of the door 1-4 to provide a support for the operator when he is leaving the car. The side edges of the door 14 may be further anchored firmly against the frame posts 11 by nailing the battens or laths 18 over the door edges and to the posts 11. It will be understood that the ply-board, headboard and battens may be omitted under certain conditions. Further, large-headed nails may be substituted for the battens in securing the edges of the door to the posts 11. Since all of the foregoing structure is well known in the art, a further detailed description herein is believed unnecessary.

In combination with the door 14 just described, I provide a pair of long or extension straps or links 19 which are pivotally connected near their centers with a rivet 2t). `lf desired, the straps 19 may be perforated at spaced distances throughout to facilitate their being secured by nails to the various frame members, as will be later described. The pivot 29 may be employed to secure the straps 19 to the door 14, if desired, but ordinarily it will be sufficient if the straps are separate from the door and are employed in the manner shown best in FIGS. l and 3 wherein the straps cross near the center of the door where they are joined by the pivot 20, and then extend outwardly between the frame posts 11 and the door 14. The extension straps go beyond the frame members 1l and overlap the lateral frame members 13. With the structure shown, the ends of the straps 19 can be moved vertically along the posts 13 to find a sound portion of the beam for nailing and can then be secured in the desired position. In this manner, good nailing areas can always be located for the ends of the straps, and because of the pivotal mounting of the members 19, considerable latitude in the vertical positioning of the straps along the posts 13 is afforded.

If desired, the straps 19 may also be secured to the posts 11 by nails 21, as indicated in FIG. 2, but such nailing is optional. Even when the nails 21 are omitted, I find that the weight of the load in pressing the door against the straps 19, as well as the pressure exerted by the battens 1S, tends to divide the load between the posts 11 and 13 and in this respect not only increase the extent of the load which may be carried, but also protects the posts 11 and 13 under the strains and stresses of shipment.

It will be noted that when the door 14 bulges outwardly under the load, the straps 19 bear against the posts 11 and do not in any way interfere with the operation of the door 14 itself, since the straps thus tightly close any space between them and the posts 11, while the door 14, under the pressure of its load, `closes any space between the door and the straps 19. By providing extension straps 19 which extend beyond the door frame and to the outside spaced beams 13, greater resiliency in the support structure is provided, since such support is to a large extent independent of the door 14 and its fastening elements, and it is found that 4this independent supporting of the door through connection with vertical frame members other than the door po-sts 11 results in less tendency for the door 14 to split under sudden pressures or strains because the members 19 can yield and spring back independently of the movement of the door 14, and this is particularly true when the optional nails 21 are omitted.

In shipment, the members 19 may be folded into the compact bundle shown in FIG. 4 and so as to lie in the single rolled package or at panel package in which such spasso? grain doors are ordinarily shipped. As indicated, the door 14 may be formed of separate panels arranged in superposed relation as shown in my Patent 2,599,443, or the door may be formed of a single sheet or sheet plies and, if desired, such sheet structure may be rolled upon itself or folded upon itself to provide a compact bundle for shipment.

While, in the foregoing specification, I have shown a specific structure in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment of my invention, such details of structure lmay be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

l. In combination with a car having an opening, a frame about said opening providing vertical frame posts at the side of said opening, vertically-extending beams in said car spaced laterally from said posts, a panel secured to said posts to provide a closure for said opening, and a pair of extension straps pivotally connected at about their centers and positioned between said panel and said posts, said straps being in angled relation to each other, and means anchoring the end portions of said straps to said beams.

2. The structure of claim l in which the said straps are equipped with spaced-apart perforations, the anchor ing means extending through some of the said perforations,

3. In combination with a car having a door opening, frame posts at the side edges of said opening, a beam extending vertically in lateral spaced relation to each of said frame posts and remote from said opening, a flexible sheet door secured to said frame posts, and a plurality of straps pivotally connected at `a single point near their centers and extending along the outer side of said door and between said door and said frame posts so as to bring vertically spaced-apart end portions of said straps over said beams, said end portions or" said straps being secured to said beams.

4. The structure of claim 3 in Which each of said straps is equipped with a plurality of spaced-apart nail openings, nails extending through `said strap openings and into said beams, each of said straps being a unitary member of a length suicient to extend between said beams when disposed at an angle to the horizontal.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS l,895,625 Hummel et al. Jan. 3l, 1933 2,310,860 Moon Feb. 9, 1943 2,483,523 Brandon et al Oct. 4, 1949 2,599,443 Ford et al June 3, 1952 2,669,402 Del Mar Feb. 1'6, 1954 

